Mark Ward has been sentenced to 16 years in prison for the murder of Marcell Seeley in Lurgan in 2015.

The remains of the 34-year old father-of-four were found in the living room of his Dingwell Park flat in the Taghnevan estate in Lurgan, with the cause of death determined as blunt force trauma to the head.

Mr Seeley - described in court as an alcoholic - sustained multiple injuries in the attack including fatal head injuries which produced both swelling and bleeding to the brain. He also sustained two fractured ribs, a fracture to a bone just above his voicebox and a shoulder injury.

Mark Ward who killed Macell Seeley

Other evidence which the Crown said proved Ward’s guilt was a distinctive shoe pattern left at the murder scene. The shoe print came from a pair of size nine Base London shoes.

Footprints were located on an envelope beside Mr Seeley’s body, on a belt, on several areas on the floor, and there was also a footprint on the victim’s shirt that correlated with bruising to his underlying muscle, which a pathologist concluded was caused “by a severe degree of force ... such as a stamp.”

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It was the Crown’s case that Ward - who wears a size nine shoe - was seen in a police station for an unrelated matter the week of the murder wearing a pair of Base London shoes, which have never been recovered.

Ward chose not to give evidence at his trial, however the jury heard that his version of events placed him at the scene on the night in question, but he denied killing Mr Seeley.

Earlier this year, he was found guilty of the killing and today the judge handed down a prison term of 16 years.

As he passed the sentence at Belfast Crown Court, the judge said there were no mitigating factors on Ward's behalf.